Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Potty Training Advice?

Next week, Koen will be one month old and Kai will be exactly 2.5 years old. Wowzers! Koen has been in my life for a month already? Time is flying! Koen slept so well last night. I fed him at 4,6 and 8pm (tanking up for those Baby Whisperer types) and then just fed him at 12:30 and 4am! We lay him on his tummy for naps and he gets all his farts out that way, glamorous I know. I have taken milk out of my diet and it may be helping (I love milk and miss my morning cereal). He still naps downstairs in front of the fireplace but I'm thinking I'll move him to his crib soon for his daytime naps. I just like having him in front of me so I can keep my eye on him, rotate him, make sure he hasn't puked etc. However, Kai's wildness is not allowing him to sleep soundly and I don't want Kai to have to be quiet all the time. He does not sleep flat on his back, he sleeps in his car seat, the swing, the bjorn, or on his stomach. He won't sleep on his back probably due to congestion or his tummy problems. I would like him to learn how to so maybe we'll work on that. His cold is just about gone so that should make it easier.

(Kai asked, `Mommy, can I lay down next to the baby?'. I can totally trust him around Koen and even left them unattended to have a shower yesterday! He also said yesterday that he wanted Koen back in my belly. I asked why and he said so that Koen could grow some more.)

It's snowing. I don't care. I know its just for today. I am SO looking forward to spring/summer. I want to wear flip flops, shorts and tank tops. I want to go for walks and runs. I've decided to join a running group in a month or two. That way I am forced to run certain distances and will be able to do it at night with a group. Gary will be done with bball in about 7 weeks so he'll be around to watch the kiddos. Football starts up mid March too. Love it.

(Yup, Kai in spiderman undies. He has asked to wear them several times so we have let him. We are starting the potty training in one week! I am so, so nervous about this. It's just a huge commitment that I don't know i will ever have the energy for. Any tips?)

Today, the RESP lady came by. It's hard to know what to do because for both Gary and I, our parents helped us out a bit but really, we had to pay for almost all of it. As kids in my family, we always had to put away half of our money for university. Regardless, when a new baby is born, my dad gives us some money for an RESP so we put that in and now we also are making little monthly payments towards both boys education. Two seconds before the lady came, Koen puked again. We made it all the way through Monday without an episode. It seems to happen when he eats and then eats again 2 hours later without sleeping. I will figure this guy out:)

(Gary should be the mom. He can nap whenever and wherever he wants. I cannot. Sometimes I can nap for about 20 minutes but otherwise, my mind is always going and doesn't let me sleep! Gary's brothers and dad are the exact same...must be nice!)

Melissa asked if we were done with 2 or gonna go for 3. I always wanted 3 kids but after Koen was born, I said that we were done. Why? I don't know how I would be with 3 hyper boys (assuming the next one was a boy too!) and the first few weeks of recovery/newborn/breastfeeding are so tough. I know its just a few weeks, but ya. Also, getting back to normal will take longer each time. I def. feel like a complete family right now but I do ask Gary every day if we are done or if we should have a third. I know that we have years to decide but in my head, I just want to know if I am going through this newborn stuff for the last time or not. Does that make sense? I like that Gary and I can each take care of a kid and it just seems very manageable. We will see....won't be selling my baby stuff yet:)

5 comments:

I totally do the same thing with the one more baby question!! It's like, I just need to know the plan...I don't care if it changes down the road but I need to know what the plan is now! And I find it especially hard to think of 'last times' you know? Last time ever I'll have a newborn, meet a new baby, breastfeed exclusively, have a five month old, etc, etc...I think: what if I don't enjoy it to its fullest because I don't know it's my last one??!Total freak.And Riley got sick the first week and had congestion/puke problems for 9 weeks so he slept propped up for the first 2 months or so. It just seemed to help him breath and get comfortable.And I let Ri fall asleep on his tummy when he was small sometimes too, for naps, and after he was asleep I'd turn him over (I have deep sleepers) so I could walk away without obsessing.

Hopefully the absence of milk proteins will help his tummy...it took about 4 days for all the dairy to leave my system when I cut it out, so it may take a few days for his tummy to settle. If it's not the milk, he won't improve, and then you'll know. I know, I missed milk like a crazy woman! And cheese!I'd recommend a calcium supplement if you cut out dairy. Unless you eat tons of leafy greens and/or almonds and/or fish bones (yech!). I had a chart somewhere for how many IUs of Calcium were in each food...I'll try to dig it up for you! Vitamin D, too.Anyways,love the spiderman butt shot! Toilet training advice?Nakedness is the most effective most rapid method I've discovered.And the #1 thing I never realized that would have spared me a ton of grief?? Toilet training COMPLETELY so there are no accidents and you don't have to remind them to go all the time? Not til they are 5. And even at 5 years old, sometimes Ayden needs nagging to get his ass in the bathroom. He had ONE accident in the playground at kindergarten but luckily I was there and none of the other kids noticed.But seriously. Matthew 'trained' himself at 2.5 and just today he decided he couldn't be bothered while we were out in the snow, and pissed thru his underwear, jogging pants, snowsuit, and into his winter boots. He's 4. At this point I just want to permanently catheterize him. I'd rather empty a bag than wash his pissy pants all the time.Can you tell I find this frustrating? It's kind of like teething in that it never ends for years and years.I mean, Matthew KNOWS how to TOILET properly, he just couldn't be bothered sometimes. Like, once every two days or so he pisses himself.Who wants to smell like piss and walk around with wet pants? Jeepers. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen.

Whew, I think I needed to vent about pants pissing! lol!

Good luck.Low, low, low expectations! Then you won't be as frustrated!!!

I love the fact that when guys fall asleep, they are still clutching the remote control. Classic shot!

I agree about the nakedness. It took Shaylah about 3 days of peeing on the floor before she caught on to the fact that she should go in the toilet instead. Gross, but very effective....oh and Smarties do wonders! Good luck with the process.

Neither of my kids are open to being put on the potty or even being reminded to go. They just flat out refuse. With Eva it was just all about her being ready. I had to wait it out. She was just about three. Didn't help that we went on a big trip right when she was getting the hang of it.

You know the story with Micah- I started early (4 months) and it paid off huge in the poop department. It hasn't really paid off in the pee dept though. He is naked all the time and still not out of pullups. He usually does a morning pee and a bedtime pee on the pot, unless he's feeling particularly ornery. All the rest of the day it's a flat out NO if I ask him to go to the potty. Sometimes we have wrestling matches to get him out of his soggy pants. I blame the extreme resistence on his developmental stage. Age two is such a time of independence, and here we are trying to tell them what to do!

Try spice loaf with anise seed in it? I've recently made some; I should bring some over for you - pretty good, and supposedly good to help babies' tummies? But don't quote me on that...a non-reputable google website said that; who knows if it's true...anyway.Love the photo of the bros together!! :)

Hello!

Hi, I'm Louise! I'm a mom of three (five right now through fostering) and wife of super chef and science teacher, Gary. I love the great outdoors, photography, and spending time together as a family. Oh, and silence.